Transformations of practice in online exercise training for patients with COPD led by physiotherapists - a qualitative study.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to characterize the practice of telemediated training for patients with very severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and to inform the development of clinical/professional practice. METHODS: Inspired by ethnographic methodology, participating observation, informal and formal interviews were conducted with patients (11), their partners (4), and physiotherapists (6) at sites where the telemediated training was practiced. Postphenomenology was used as theoretical and analytical framework. RESULTS: Telemediated training in the homes of the patients takes place where most daily activities happen, and together with activities in the rehabilitation units they are included in the training in a reduced or amplified version that may compromise the privacy of the patients. The mediated image and sound challenge the training and communication activities and the possibility for the physiotherapists to estimate the condition of the patients. Consequently, the physiotherapists lower how much they push the patients in the exercises. CONCLUSIONS: Making training accessible to very severely ill patients with COPD through homebased telemediation comes with several trade-offs. This study can be used to educate clinical practice before and during the practicing of telemediated services, which need to be organized in a way that allows continuous adjustment.IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICEThe technology itself is not a neutral device in online health care provision. Health professionals should therefore:Play an active role in structuring the content, communication, and inclusion of the patients' context during online health care provision.Receive training in how to spot ways in which online health care provision transforms traditional practice and to how to work around its limitations.Organize online health care practices in ways that allow for continuous adjustment (for which they need back up from management).

The hospital telemedicine TELEMED database: Providing information on evidence-based telemedicine services to hospital managers and healthcare professionals.

BACKGROUND: Increased use of telemedicine in the healthcare system is a political goal in Denmark. Although the number of hospital patients using interventions such as the video consultation has increased in recent years only a small proportion of the outpatient and inpatient visits involve telemedicine. The TELEMED database (https://telemedicine.cimt.dk/) has been launched at the Center for Innovative Medical Technology in Denmark to ensure that hospital managers and healthcare professionals have access to information about telemedicine services and their effectiveness. This article describes the development and the content of the TELEMED database. METHODS: A structured literature search was made in the PubMed Database for randomised controlled trials or observational studies with a control group that investigated the effect of telemedicine interventions for hospital patients. Data were extracted from each article on the clinical effectiveness, patient perceptions, economic effects and implementation challenges. As the database should only provide inspiration to healthcare professionals regarding possibilities for use of telemedicine, the risk of bias in the studies was not assessed. RESULTS: The literature search resulted in 2825 hits. Based on full text assessment, 331 articles were included for data extraction and assessment. These articles present telemedicine services used in 22 different medical specialities. Forty-eight percent of the studies found a positive, statistically significant clinical effect, while 47% showed no statistically significant difference. In 48% of the studies, patients' experiences were examined and of these 68% found positive patient experiences. Fifty-four percent of the articles included information on the economic effects and, of these, 51% found reduction in healthcare utilization. In the majority of studies between two and four types of implementation challenges were found.Conclusions and recommendations: The TELEMED database provides an easily accessible overview of existing evidence-based telemedicine services for use by hospital managers and health professionals, who whish to to implement telemedicine. The database is freely available and expected to be continuously improved and broadened over time.

Telemediated Training in the Home as a Part of the Everyday Life and Practice With Very Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Patients with very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) conduct their everyday lives under shortness of breath. The aim of this study was to explore telemediated exercise training to patients at home, with the conduct of everyday life as a theoretical framework. Based on ethnographic fieldwork involving a hospital, two municipalities, and homes of 11 patients from 2013 to 2017, this article shows how telemediated training became part of patients' and partners' everyday lives and the prioritization of time and resources for basic activities. Most of the patients found telemediated training meaningful, that it can work as an agent of hope in holding on to essential everyday life activities, but also that it may be experienced as burdensome and disciplining. The physiotherapists' understanding of the patients' circumstances and needs for rehabilitation changed. The article argues that telemediated training should be offered as part of a palliative approach for those severely affected by COPD.

Early telemedicine training and counselling after hospitalization in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: An essential element in the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is rehabilitation, of which supervised training is an important part. However, not all individuals with severe COPD can participate in the rehabilitation provided by hospitals and municipal training centres due to distance to the training venues and transportation difficulties. The aim of the study was to assess the feasibility of an individualized home-based training and counselling programme via video conference to patients with severe COPD after hospitalization including assessment of safety, clinical outcomes, patients' perceptions, organisational aspects and economic aspects. METHODS: The design was a pre- and post-test intervention study. Fifty patients with severe COPD were included. The telemedicine training and counselling included three weekly supervised exercise sessions by a physiotherapist and up to two supervised counselling and training sessions in energy conservation techniques by an occupational therapist. The telemedicine videoconferencing equipment was a computer containing a screen, a microphone, an on/off switch and a volume control. RESULTS: Thirty seven (74%) participants completed the programme, with improvements in health status assessed by the Clinical COPD Questionnaire and physical performance assessed by a sit-to-stand test and a timed-up-and-go test. There were no cases of patient fall or emergency contact with a general practitioner during the telemedicine training sessions. The study participants believed the telemedicine training and counselling was essential for getting started with being physically active in a secure manner. The business case showed that under the current financing system, the reimbursement to the hospital was slightly higher than the hospital expenditures. Thus, the business case for the hospital was positive. The organizational analysis indicated that the perceptions of the staff were that the telemedicine service had improved the continuity of the rehabilitation programme for the patients and enabled the patients' everyday lives to be included in the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that home-based supervised training and counselling via video conference is safe and feasible and that telemedicine can help to ensure more equitable access to supervised training in patients with severe COPD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials NCT02085187 (Date of registration 10.03.2014).